Cats and dogs which are house pets will normally indicate their desire to be let into or out of the house by meowing or barking or by scratching at the door. The former can be annoying to neighbors and others and is not always effective as the pet owner may attribute it to other reasons. Scratching can result in damage to the door and, thus, is not desirable. The provision of a pet door is not always an effective solution as such a door permits unrestricted egress and ingress by the pet and by other small animals and as the pet owner may not want or be permitted to install such a door. In order to provide a signalling means usable by the pet which avoids the above problems, pet operable doorbells have been proposed. One such doorbell operator, shown in Popular Science, May 1952, page 194, includes a spring-loaded platform with switch contacts and is intended to be placed beside the door with the pet being trained to sit on the platform thereby closing the contacts to actuate the household doorbell. As this device is connected to the existing doorbell wiring, however, it is not readily portable or suitable for use at a door not equipped with a bell. Also, when the device is placed out of doors and intended for use by a relatively small animal, snow accumulation and the like may also actuate the switch.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a pet operable signalling device in the form of a self-contained unit, not requiring connection to a household doorbell or other wiring.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of such a pet operable signalling device which is readily portable.
Another object of the invention is the provision of such a device which is characterized by its simplicity of construction and ease of operation.